Fabrication of tin oxide and carbon black nanocomposite for effectual electron-hole separation and visible light-harvesting: Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of an organophosphorus pesticide

The problems associated with most of the materials used in photocatalysis are poor light response, quick recombination of charge carriers, and tough separation of catalytic materials from the reaction mixture after catalysis and reusability. Without any of these bugs, herein we have developed a novel tin (IV) oxide doped carbon black (SnO2@CB) nanocomposite by simple sonication method (Sonicator operation was made at 40 +/- 3 kHz frequency and a maximum power of 200 W). The successful formation and high crystallinity of the nanocomposite, SnO2@CB was confirmed by thoroughly characterizing it using UV-DRS, PL spectra, FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, Elemental mapping analysis, HR-TEM and EDAX techniques. The photo catalytic efficacy of the synthesized nanocomposite was tested in the degradation of a highly toxic organophosphorus pesticide pollutant, triazophos (TZP). The results of the study reveal that the binary nanocomposite, SnO2@CB performs photocatalytically better than its single counterpart, SnO2. This admirable photo destruction performance is ascribed to the high surface area of the composite, enhanced charge separation, outstanding ionic conductivity, and the dissemination of SnO2 nanoparticles evenly on CB. It is important to note that the nanocomposite is reusable. There are no noticeable changes observed in the photocatalytic performance even after six cycles. This photocatalyst has significant potential to address various environmental issues through degradation of organic pollutants and energy issues through generation of clean H2 by water splitting.